More Frett, Iverson This Weekend

TV/Radio

March 12, 1993|By SONNY DEARTH Daily Press

The latest chapters in the sagas of high school basketball phenoms La'Keshia Frett and Allen Iverson and their teams will be on the air this weekend. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Menchville's girls.

Saturday at about 3:45 p.m., WGH-AM 1310 will pick up the Phoebus girls' state quarterfinal against L.C. Bird, which is scheduled to begin at 2:45 at Ashe Center in Richmond. Bethel's boys game against Hopewell, scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Saturday at the same location, will be broadcast in its entirety.

Both contests will be televised on tape Sunday in Hampton by WHCS, the city schools' Channel 5. Announcer Tim Kohl said Phoebus will be on at 5 p.m., Bethel at 8 p.m.

Menchville faces John Marshall of Richmond at 1 p.m. Saturday, and fans will have to go to the Ashe Center to follow that action. Menchville was overshadowed in that time slot by the Colonial Athletic Association women's tournament final and a NASCAR Grand National race.

Kohl said a blown engine in WHCS' production truck kept that station from covering the first two rounds of the Eastern Region Tournament. It did broadcast the boys and girls finals.

RING OF COMEDY. The antics during and after ex-heavyweight champion Larry Holmes' controversial victory against palooka Rocky Pepeli on USA Network Tuesday night made one wonder if the fight was sanctioned by a boxing group or the World Wrestling Federation. No wonder boxing has a bad reputation.

Pepeli mockingly blew a kiss at Holmes before the fight, which was full of trash-talking. Holmes, 43, opened a huge gash over his foe's left eye, forcing Pepeli to bleed profusely as he went to his corner after the fourth round. Pepeli's helpers managed to stop the bleeding, but the bout was stopped anyway, angering the underdog.

A few minutes later, USA announcers Bill Macatee and Sean O'Grady interviewed Pepeli, and Holmes soon joined an R-rated dialogue that was better ``entertainment'' than the fight.

A sampling of the remarks:

Pepeli: ``He's a racist, Larry Holmes, you know. He was saying that racial (stuff). I was winning the fight. ... He's old.''

Holmes: ``I gave you a break. ... I'm getting ready for bigger and better things. ... I gave you the chance to fight a legend.''

Pepeli: ``Yeah, a legend in your own mind. ... I would have went (sic) on fighting. I would have knocked your (rear end) out.''

A little later, the combatants almost began a ``fifth round'' outside the ring. Jesse ``The Body'' Ventura should have been there.

SELECTION TIME. Sunday at 6:30 p.m., CBS will unveil how the selection committee paired the NCAA men's basketball tournament field, while ESPN has a similar show at the same time. The show for the women's tourney is at 12:30 p.m. that day on ESPN.

``The key thing we've found is that people don't want opinions,'' analyst Billy Packer told The Associated Press. ``They don't want something dressy. They want to know: Hey, Coppin State got in and, when they're playing, who they're playing, where they're seeded, and where's the game.''

This is CBS' third season doing the tournament but its 11th doing the tournament selections.

PIT ON ESPN. At 3 p.m., Saturday, April 10 from Churchland High School, ESPN will televise the final of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a collection of 64 college seniors trying to impress pro basketball scouts. The time of the final, traditionally at night, was changed to accommodate TV.

The PIT has never been shown live before, though it has been shown on Home Team Sports on a delayed basis.

MORNING BLAB. There's no telling what garbage you might hear on these call-in radio shows.

Earlier this week on WGH, sports talk show host Johnny Miller of the Sports and Entertainment Network advanced the theory that Joe Gibbs resigned as head coach of the Washington Redskins because it looks like the Dallas Cowboys are going to be in power for the next few years.

Anybody who knows Gibbs knows that's not true. He agonized while preparing for games against weaker teams and lived to play powers such as Dallas.

Miller repeated his theory several times during the week. And a few callers agreed with him.

Some people will say anything. And some people will believe it.

ESPYs. ESPN's March 4 telecast of the first American Sports Awards was watched in an estimated 1.6 million homes, the all-sports network said. That number reportedly pleased ESPN enough to do a second annual show next year.